Colorectal cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, affecting men and women of all races
St. John’s Regional Medical Center (SJRMC) and St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital (SJPVH), members of Dignity Health, recognize the significance of March as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. In acknowledgment of this month, SJRMC and SJPVH offers free confidential online colorectal cancer risk assessment.More than 75 percent of colon and rectal cancers occur in individuals with no known risk factors and they often begin with no symptoms. St. John’s encourages a proactive approach to intercepting this cancer in its earliest stages with regular screenings and the resources necessary to make informed health care decisions.
Both men and women are equally at risk for colon cancer and the risk of developing colorectal cancer increases with age. Learning about colorectal cancer risk factors and having regular screenings can help identify the earliest signs of the disease, when treatment can be most effective.
About Dignity Health St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital and St. John’s Regional Medical Center St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo and St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard are members of Dignity Health Central Coast, an integrated network of top quality hospitals, with physicians from the most prestigious medical schools, and comprehensive outpatient services – all recognized for quality, safety and service. Both hospitals are supported by an active philanthropic Foundation to help meet the growing health care needs of our communities. Hospitals in the Dignity Health Central Coast region also include Arroyo Grande Community Hospital in Arroyo Grande, French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria. Learn more at DignityHealth.org/PleasantValley and DignityHealth.org/StJohnsRegional.
Pleasant Valley Hospital
Dignity Health St. John’s Hospital
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(Ventura, California) Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura has added another procedure to the growing list of minimally invasive heart procedures: transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
TAVR is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that repairs a narrowed heart valve without removing the old, damaged valve. Instead, an artificial valve is placed in the aortic valve through the femoral artery (the large artery in the groin) using a long catheter. There’s no large surgical incision in the chest. Once the new valve is expanded, the tissue in the replacement valve regulates blood flow from the heart to the body. Previously, heart valve replacements required open-heart surgery in which the sternum is surgically separated, which typically required longer recovery for patients.
“The TAVR procedure is reducing the need for open-heart surgeries in some instances and hastening patient recovery,” said Dr. Omid Fatemi, Community Memorial Health System’s Medical Director of Structural Heart and High Risk Revascularization.
“This procedure has become more common. Patients can have their treatment locally. Rather than travel far distances, patients stay close to their families. This helps our entire community, especially our elderly and frail patients. It gives people a new lease on life in a very practical way,” Dr. Fatemi said.
The newly opened Ocean Tower’s state-of-the-art cath lab allows CMH to expand its line-up of heart procedures that couldn’t be performed in the old hospital. Within the first week, four successful TAVR procedures have been completed at CMH, and more are planned for the near future.
The Ocean Tower cath lab has four procedure rooms and a fifth is expected to be added by next year. The new, expanded cath lab also features start-of-the art imaging equipment with superior imaging quality and new, superior diagnostic and ultrasound equipment.
TAVR is an FDA-approved procedure for people with aortic valve stenosis who are considered at intermediate or high-risk for open-heart valve replacement surgery. The FDA approval has expanded over the past few years with the outstanding results that have been achieved with this technology.
Aortic valve stenosis is when the heart’s aortic valve narrows, often from aging and genetic risk factors. The narrowing prevents the valve from opening fully and obstructs the blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body. According to the American Heart Association, aortic stenosis can cause chest pain, fainting, fatigue, leg swelling and shortness of breath, and can lead to heart failure and sudden cardiac death. Approximately 2.5 million people, or 12.4 percent of the population in the United States over 75 has aortic stenosis.
The Structural Heart Program at the new CMH offer minimally invasive procedures for heart problems, and most patients can go home the next day. Procedures include TAVR, ASD and PFO closure, and the WATCHMAN Left Atrial Appendage Closure Implant for patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) who can take warfarin but seek a non-drug alternative to reduce their risk of AF-related stroke.
American actor Jan-Michael Vincent died on Feb. 10.
He passed away after suffering cardiac arrest in a North Carolina hospital, TMZ published Friday.
Vincent was born in 1944 in Denver, Colorado. He had his first on-screen appearance in 1967 as Mike Vincent in “The Hardy Boys: The Mystery Of The Chinese Junk.”
Vincent was most known for his role as Stringfellow Hawke in the 1980s TV series “Airwolf.” Vincent’s role in “Airwolf” made him famous and he reportedly was the highest-paid actor at the time, earning $200,000 per episode. He most recently starred in the movie “White Boy” in 2002. (RELATED: Luke Perry Reportedly Dead After Suffering ‘Massive’ Stroke)
He worked on “Vigilante Force” in 1976 with Kris Kristofferson and Victoria Principal. Vincent also starred in “Hard Country” with Kim Basinger. He officially retired from acting in 2009.
On March 7, 2019 at 10:00 PM, Officers from the Port Hueneme Police Department responded to the 700 block of Halyard Street regarding several calls of “shots heard” in the area.
While checking the area, officers were flagged down by a citizen who lives on Halyard Street. The person reported that he had been in bed, when he heard several gunshots. He also reported that a bullet had gone through his window. Officers located a single bullet hole in the victim’s window and discovered that the bullet was imbedded in a large wooden dresser.
Officers located a witness who said they saw an individual randomly firing a gun out the window of a black sedan as they drove west on Halyard Street.
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information or questions about this incident can contact Detective Mike Hamrick at the Port Hueneme Police Department (805) 986- 6541 or email at [email protected]
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CAMARILLO, Calif. – After a thorough search and subsequent review of qualified applicants, Ventura County Supervisor Kelly Long has nominated Mr. Earl McPhail to fill the Ventura County Planning Commission spot for the third district. Once approved, Mr. McPhail will replace acting Commissioner Maggie Kestly who was appointed on a temporary basis to fill the sudden and unexpected vacancy left by Steve Onstot.
Mr. McPhail currently serves as the Chair of the Santa Paula Planning Commission and has been a resident there for forty years. His experience with Ventura County government is extensive, serving as Ventura County’s Agricultural Commissioner for almost thirty years from 1979 – 2008.
“I am delighted to recommend Earl McPhail as my Ventura County Planning Commissioner”, said Supervisor Long. “Mr. McPhail’s extensive experience with land use issues, his passion for community service and strong support from highly respected community members makes him an ideal choice to serve in this role.”
Mr. McPhail has the knowledge and background to understand complex planning issues. His personal experience includes involvement with the County’s previous General Plan process, years of work with the County Planning Department in his role as Agricultural Commissioner and service as a member of the Planning Commission for the City of Santa Paula.
“I am honored to be selected for this position and I look forward to serving the county for which I spent so many years of my professional life”, said McPhail. “The third supervisorial district is a diverse and geographically unique area and I intend to be the best representative I can for all of Supervisor Long’s constituents. I believe my experience and expertise will serve me well in this new role.”
Mr. McPhail has informed Supervisor Long that he intends to resign from the Santa Paula Planning Commission once the appointment has been confirmed by the Board of Supervisors so he can devote his full attention to the County and avoid any appearance of conflict of interest.
The official appointment of Mr. McPhail will be considered at the regularly scheduled Board of Supervisors meeting on March 12th. The term would be effective through January 4th, 2021.
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The past two weeks have seen good news for Americans who care about their religious liberty, as strong statements came from the Supreme Court and the state of Colorado in defense of the First Amendment’s guarantees of religious expression.
First came oral arguments at the Supreme Court in the case of The American Legion v. American Humanist Association, which concerns the constitutionality of a WWI memorial. When Gold-Star mothers teamed with The American Legion to build the memorial on private land in Maryland nearly 100 years ago, they wanted to emulate the cross-shaped headstones in France under which their sons were buried. A state commission eventually bought the land, and a federal court ruled last year that the cross on public land amounted to a state endorsement of Christianity.
But in oral arguments last week, justices didn’t seem convinced. According to CNN, “A majority of the Supreme Court suggested Wednesday that a 40-foot cross on public land in Maryland that was built to honor fallen soldiers in World War I does not violate the separation of church and state.” This is as it should be. Any reasonable consideration of the Constitution and its history makes clear that expressions of faith in public do not necessarily amount to state coercion.
That would be obvious to anyone who strolls through Arlington National Cemetery and sees headstones with the Star of David or a cross. Or, for that matter, to anyone who’s read a speech by George Washington or heard one delivered by Barack Obama or Donald Trump. The Establishment Clause protects Americans from being forced to adhere to a single state-approved religion — it is not supposed to drive believers underground.
Kelly Shackelford of First Liberty Institute, a law firm representing The American Legion, says that he’s “hopeful the Court will not only end the attacks on this memorial, but will clarify the law and put an end to the attacks on memorials nationwide.” Let’s hope that the indications from oral arguments are accurate, and the justices overturn the lower court’s misguided and a historical decision.
The second piece of good news for religious freedom is less obvious, as it came from a case the Supreme Court decided not to hear. The justices declined to decide whether New Jersey’s state supreme court was right to rule that a county program can prohibit religious buildings from receiving public grants. Although the justices declined to hear the case based on uncertainty regarding details of the county’s program, they did not necessarily agree with the lower court’s ruling.
Justice Kavanaugh wrote a statement, joined by Justices Alito and Gorsuch, declaring that the New Jersey court’s decision “is in serious tension with this Court’s religious equality precedents. As this Court has repeatedly held, governmental discrimination against religion—in particular, discrimination against religious persons, religious organizations, and religious speech — violates the Free Exercise Clause and the Equal Protection Clause.” In short, these justices clearly recognize that a religious nature or purpose does not exclude an institution — or building — from receiving aid simply on the basis of their religious status. It is important for Americans to hear such clear expressions of that principle.
Finally, the state of Colorado dropped its second case against Jack Phillips, the baker who was vindicated last year when the Supreme Court ruled that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had violated his constitutional rights by fining him when he declined to bake a custom cake to celebrate a same-sex wedding. The majority ruled then that “religious and philosophical objections to gay marriage are protected views and in some instances protected forms of expression.” But shortly after that victory, another Colorado resident filed a complaint because Mr. Phillips declined to bake a cake for gender transition party. This time, though, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission decided to dismiss its action against Phillips. The agency seems to finally understand that the state cannot compel anyone to express statements that run counter to his or her deeply held religious beliefs.
These events are especially encouraging when you consider that taken together, they defend both the free exercise and the establishment clauses of the First Amendment. The Bladensburg should make clear that the public display of a passive symbol is not the establishment of a religion; Justice Kavanaugh’s statement confirms discriminating against a religious institution undermines free exercise; and Colorado decided not to coerce a religious man into expressing ideas that run contrary to his beliefs.
All in all, a good series of events for our religious freedoms — not that the fight is over. People who misunderstand the Constitution or simply resent religious belief will continue to subvert the First Amendment. Freedom-loving Americans must continue to be wise and vigilant.
Ken Blackwell (@KenBlackwell) is a senior fellow for human rights and constitutional governance at the Family Research Council. He served as Ohio’s secretary of state from 1999-2007.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.
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On March 09, 2019, from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, the City of Ojai Explorers Post #2501 will be hosting Coffee with the Chief and providing ice cream for donations at the Ojai Police Station (402 South Ventura Street, Ojai). Our goal is to come together as a community, enjoy coffee and ice cream. This is also an opportunity for our Ojai community to meet the newly elected Ventura County Sheriff, William “Bill” Ayub from noon to approximately 1:00 PM.
Donations will assist the Explorers in affording expenses that accrue from attending competitions and the opportunity to purchase new equipment that is needed. The Explorer Program is a group of youth ranging in ages from 14-20 years old. They are committed to volunteering their time with events around Ventura County and raise money through donations and events they host themselves. They compete in competitions locally and across the country, have bi-weekly meetings, learn basic law enforcement tactics, learn how to interact and speak to citizens, learn leadership skills, and gain more confidence in themselves as they grow into adulthood.
Please join on us on Saturday to meet the deputies assigned to the Ojai Police Station along with supporting our Ojai Explorer Post #2501. We will also have the Ojai Station K-9 “Jago” and his handler, Deputy Rodriguez, at the event for a meet and greet! We will be providing Child Print Kits for parents who are interested in having their child’s fingerprints on file in the event they ever go missing or are the victim of a crime. Donations for the print kits are encouraged, but they are free of charge.
Ojai Police Department
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Come sing a song! Do you have a ukulele, mandolin or fiddle in your closet? Have you had a hankering to sing an old Hootenanny tune? Join us and invite your friends who love to sing! Rise Up Singing is a community monthly drop in singing group at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Santa Paula.
All are invited to join us on Friday, March 15 at 7:00 pm. Join the fun as Maddie Sifantus leads us as we experience communal singing. All ages are welcome. Free Will Offering ($5 suggested). We meet in the Parish Hall of the Universalist Unitarian Church of Santa Paula which is located at 740 E Main Street in Santa Paula. Singers and instrumentalists of all ages are welcome to this informal and spirited evening of shared music making. Bring a copy of Rise Up Singing or Rise Again, if you have one.
Some copies will be available to buy or borrow for the evening. For more information, call Maddie at 805-525-4620 or email her at [email protected].
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Yet another group of angry teachers has made charter schools the focus of their wrath. The seven-day teacher strike, which ended in Oakland last week, was replete with typical teacher union demands like higher pay and smaller class sizes, and the au courant enemy target: charter schools. The final agreement includes a stipulation that the school board take a vote on whether to push the state for a charter school moratorium.
Apparently, the Oakland teachers were buoyed by a similar demand introduced by their brethren in Los Angeles after their recent six-day strike. And who can blame them?! According to a 2017 report from the California Charter School Association, Oakland charters, home to 30 percent of the city’s students, performed on average in the 45th percentileon the state administered standardized tests, while Oakland traditional public schools (TPS) performed at the 25th percentile.
So what to do about these embarrassing differences? In Los Angeles, the union honchos and their acolytes trotted out the “siphon” argument, claiming that charter schools, privately run and publicly funded, drain money from TPS.
However, as president of Govern for California’s David Crane pointed out recently, the union’s own math tells a different story. He writes that according to the United Teachers of Los Angeles the LA school district will spend $591 million on charter schools this year. “In comparison, LAUSD will spend nearly $1 billion this year on retirement costs. The money spent on charter schools serves 138,000 children. The money spent on retirement costs serves no children.” Therefore, the major “siphon” culprits are the retirees, not charters.
Nevertheless, there is a bundle of anti-charter bills currently moving through the legislature in Sacramento. With a majority of union bought-and-paid-for legislators and a very charter-unfriendly governor in Gavin Newsom, it’s hard to imagine that they all won’t become law. AB 1505would knock out the appeals process. The way things are now, if a charter is turned down by a local school district it can appeal to the county, and state, if necessary. AB 1506 would cap the number of charters at 1,323, the number now operating. A new charter school could open only if another one closes. (For a complete look at all the new bills, EdSource’s John Fensterwald has a rundown here.)
Needless to say, the California Teachers Association is crowing about the new bills. In a press release, the union rolled out the standard buzz-terms, referring to “corporate” charter schools, and insists that the proposed charter prohibitions are “about kids, not profits.” Wrong. It’s really about protecting unionized jobs.
Back in the real world…Eric Premack, a veteran charter school policy adviser, correctly referred to the raft of California’s new bills as a “full-frontal” assault and “scorched earth” approach to charter schools.
Myrna Castrejón, president of the California Charter School Association also weighed in, saying that the “villainization of charters driving districts to brink of insolvency is salacious.” She adds, “Not for a second will I apologize for the growth of charters that are meeting the needs of parents and are contributing to lifting up our brown and black kids, our disadvantaged students and providing them a lifeline of opportunity for greater success in our great state.”
The unions, with assistance from their legislative toadies, are pushing an agenda that will hurt many of our neediest children in order to protect their turf. In other words, business as usual.
Larry Sand, a former classroom teacher, is the president of the non-profit California Teachers Empowerment Network – a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers and the general public with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues. The views presented here are strictly his own.
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One hundred eleven miles of new or replacement wall is either being built or is in progress on the southern border after Trump’s first two years in office, an administration official tells The Daily Caller.
All told, the administration has secured funding for approximately 445 miles of the total 722 miles desired by the Trump administration, a Caller analysis finds. The analysis holds only if all national emergency and executive action funding is upheld in court challenges.
The administration official stressed that this figure constitutes only 18-foot bollard wall fencing or 32-foot levee wall fencing, which is the barrier that Trump has emphasized as necessary.
The wall accounting begins in Fiscal Year 2017 in which $341 million was obligated for replacement wall in California, New Mexico, and Texas. This money funds construction for 40 miles of new or replacement wall of which 37 miles is completed or in progress.
$1.375 billion was then appropriated in 2018 to build upwards of 82 miles of new or replacement border wall. The administration official noted that approximately 74 miles of new or replacement wall has been completed or is in progress with these dollars. This particular wall was built or replaced in the Rio Grande Valley Sector on the border in South Texas and other locations.
Fiscal Year 2019 saw a major fight between Trump and Congress over border wall funding, with the administration demanding $5.7 billion and Democrats offering up no more than $1.375 billion, not to be used for a wall. Ultimately, after a nearly 35-day partial government shutdown and three weeks of negotiation, Trump accepted $1.375 billion in congressionally appropriated funding and declared a national emergency at the southern border. (RELATED: Trump Will Sign Border Bill, Declare National Emergency)
Trump’s national emergency declaration and other executive action allowed him to tap $600 million from the Treasury asset forfeiture fund, $2.5 billion of drug enforcement money, and $3.6 billion under his authority as commander in chief.
New iron fence on the border between Mexico and the United States in Texas, Taken January 2019
The national emergency declaration was quickly challenged in court by 16 states, organized by the State of California and filed in the Federal District Court in San Francisco, which appeals to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Officials could not provide a complete estimate of the wall that will be built with the 2019 funds, though they noted that it costs approximately $25 million per mile, putting an estimate at 323 miles of additional border wall. The administration official cautioned that wall funding costs can vary because of terrain but noted that Trump’s actions lack the restrictions of previous appropriations to build wall in much needed areas, like the Rio Grande Valley Sector.
Amber Athey contributed to this report.
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